Today we’d like to introduce you to Ki Shuntiel.
Ki, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I can hear my grandmother now saying, “image is everything!”, and I hated to hear her say that. In my family, image really was everything. I watched my mother pull out her “Sunday’s best” everyday and there are photos to prove it. My brother and I would be late for school if he wasn’t confident about his outfit. Then there was me…I would come home with ballies missing from my hair, frayed shoestrings, and dirty uniform shirts. However, things took a turn for me when my brother roasted me in front of his friends and my mother threatened to buy me combat boots for school. Now listen, I played hard but I was too girly to pull off some payless combat boots.
Just a few years later, I was reconstructing my clothing to fit my desired look. My mother allowed me to be creative even if that meant bleaching and cutting up all of my clothes. By high school, our garage was my creative space. I wrote poetry, drew, danced, did nails, and reconstructed clothing and shoes. My love for fashion was put to the side as I continued on my journey focusing on receiving a B.A. in Psychology with hopes of becoming a School Child Psychologist. Although I was a full-time student, I managed to maintain a full-time job styling at a boutique in Brentwood, CA.
Time passed and I decided to shake things up a bit and move to Georgia. While in Georgia, I found work in a preschool located in a temple as an infant teacher. One of the parents entered my class and complimented me on my favorite pair of jeggings (yes, jeggings) and she wanted to know where I got them from. I explained to her that they were originally blue jeggings but I got some bleach on them and decided to tie-dye them with bleach because I refused to throw them away. Impressed with my work, she encouraged me to make more and sell them. I thought that was an awesome idea as I had never seen tie-dye leggings. However, it was summer so I decided to tie-dye biker shorts instead. Co-ords were such a thing for me that summer so I decided to tie-dye tops and biker shorts and sell them as sets. I gave my style of tie-dyeing the name “Color Stains” and made up my mind that “Color Stains” would only be sold in the summer.
Eventually, Summer came to an end, I was back in Los Angeles, and the demand for tie-dye items increased. Fast forward to 2019, “Color Stains” is now THREE-XXXIII, I do custom orders for small businesses, and I have a website where people can make purchases, and place orders for custom tie-dye items.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The road to THREE-XXXIII has been quite interesting because every season up until this year I’ve tried to take a break from doing the work for the brand. Although I haven’t been allowed to take a break, I see this as a Blessing for my brand.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about THREE-XXXIII – what should we know?
THREE-XXXIII is known for it’s tie dye items. I tie dye items like hoodies, joggers, rompers, dad hats, biker shorts, etc. I’d like to say that I’ve added some swag to the tie-dye world. I found that there is a need for socks for the homeless people in our community so for every item purchased, a pair of socks are donated to our neighbors in need.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
I am surrounded by very positive and supportive people. My mother is by far my biggest fan. However, that doesn’t take away from my lifelong friends that I now call my sisters. My little village is always there with positive feedback and honesty whenever I need it.
Pricing:
- Hoodies & Jogger Sets $70-$120
- Leggings & Long Sleeve Sets $60
- Short & Long Sleeve T’s $25-$35
Contact Info:
- Website: www.three-xxxiii.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: instagram.com/colorstains_3.33
- Facebook: ColorStainsxTHREE-XXXIII
Image Credit:
Photographer David Trice
Models are also customers Kimoni, Starr*, Ashalee, Dominique, & West
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